Fraggin' kids

I've got kids on the brain tonight, so I thought I'd dish up some fraggin' kids today.

 

We've hit the home stretch of Annie's 8th grade year. Tomorrow (well, today -- in just 7 hours actually), her class will do a dramatic presentation of the Passion for Good Friday. It's really the first of the last events of 8th grade. After the Passion, there will be May Crowning, the DC trip and graduation. It's really so hard to believe that she's been there for 9 years. As I heard recently, "the days are long, but the years are short." So true.

One of Annie's favorite activities of late has been to record silly, rambling videos for friends and post them on Facebook. I've watched them. Nothing harmful, just lots of random silliness. I thought it was getting to be a bit much, but she got a text from an old friend today who's had a pretty rough go of it lately. This friend told her that those videos were one of the first things the friend has laughed at in a long time. Just another testament to the power of humor and of social media.

Charlie goes back to the doctor tomorrow for a check of his arm. I hope they give him a new cast because the one he has on now is filthy! I swear he must roll in dirt on recess. And if a new cast is in the future, I'd be happy for it to be waterproof.

Pics of Robbie's first birthday popped up on Mike's FB page tonight. He was so little, round-faced and happy. And blonde! Who could resist this cutie?

I wrote a guest post about Robbie on Acting Balanced. Not sure when it will post, but I'll let you know. It was a step out of my comfort zone, but good for me to do.

Speaking of babies -- the baby-birds-to-be are still doing well. There are four eggs in the nest now and we're trying to avoid using the front door as much as possible because a.) we don't want to disturb the nest and b.) we don't want Mama to peck our eyes out.

Not specifically related to kids, but moms -- and anyone interested in healthy habits: I'd love it if you'd visit the Fit City Moms blog to read (and comment on!) my post this month -- 15 minute start to fitness.

It's almost 3:30am and I'm fresh out of fragments. If you need more, be sure to visit Mrs. 4444s Half-Past Kissin' Time blog. Wishing you all a happy Easter and a wonderful weekend.

Passages

It always sounds so cliche when parents say "where did the time go" and "how did they grow up so fast?" But I'm gonna say it -- Where did the time go? How did they grow up so fast?

Charlie's class watched THE MOVIE at school this week. I wasn't prepared for that -- probably because Charlie never gave me the letter saying that they were going to watch THE MOVIE. So, when he got in the car on Tuesday and said "Mom, we watched the 'Just Around the Corner' movie today," I about swallowed my gum.

(We call it the "Just Around the Corner" movie because that's the refrain for the song played in the movie, hinting that bodily changes are just around the corner for these 4th graders.)

Charlie was quite fascinated by the content of the movie and proceeded to tell me about in detail. Well, he tried to tell me, but Annie was in the car and positively grossed out which gave me the legitimate opportunity to tell him we'd talk about it later. Then as soon as Mike got home, I promptly reminded him that I had handled THE TALK with Annie and now that Charlie had seen THE MOVIE, it was Mike's turn to have THE TALK.

In another "where did the time go" category, Annie and I attended a high school information night at school on Tuesday. I swear she was just in kindergarten! She's only in the 7th grade, so we have a little time, but next month we'll be going to several open houses at high schools she is interested in.

When I was her age, I had two options for high school: Catholic or public. That was it. She has 5 Catholic high schools and the public school to consider. Truthfully, we're only going to look at 3 of the Catholic high schools, ruling out two of them based solely on the fact that they are too far away for a daily drive.

She doesn't want to go to the public school and I don't think I want her to either, but I do think we should at least visit and tour so we are clear on all of our options.

So we went into the information night knowing only what we've heard from friends about each of the schools. I had a pretty good idea where I thought she should go, as did she -- though her idea was different than mine. By the end of the night, we were still on different pages but we'd flip-flopped, me leaning more toward her original selection and she toward mine.

Good thing we have some time. If anyone has any tips for how to choose a high school, what questions to be sure to ask, I am all ears!

At least I still have Robbie, who will always be my baby. Today was gym day and I was caught with no clean gym shirts.

So I said, "Robbie, can you just wear a white shirt with your sweatpants?"

"Sure, Mom," totally unconcerned with the "what will the other kids say?!" and not even the least hint of drama about the potential (perceived) embarrassment.

Gosh, I love that kid!